One Seasoned Collector's Approach to "The Gold Page"...

lkenefic · March 23, 2023 7:51AM

Hello everyone... since I posted my completed Dansco 7070 album I've fielded a few questions about continuing the project and doing the Gold Page. This is just my take and what works for me (and my budget). After much consideration I decided to take a different approach. The original Dansco page had a few flaws, in my opinion... it neglected the $3 gold, and many of the coins are the Liberty Head series (40% of the coins on the page). Also, it's not really available at a sane price. I know all about "supply and demand", but "value" and "worth" also creep into the discussion for me. The Intercept gold page includes the $3 gold and all three $1 gold pieces, but I still can't get past the fact that many of the coins are of the same design. Unlike the Dansco gold page, the Intercept is readily available for less than $5 from a variety of sellers, so if having the album with gold is your collecting goal... go for it!!

My approach is an extension of an idea I had for a "Box of 20", which brings me to the next bit of reasoning for my approach to collecting gold. I got a bit anxious cracking out a few of the coins for my base 7070 Type Set. In the dark recesses of my brain I had nightmares of the Seated Dollar skittering off and landing under the refrigerator... or a shard of plastic scratching the surface by a "miss-hit" blow from the hammer... Bear in mind that none of these events even remotely occurred from the many coins I cracked for the set, but there's something about cracking a four-figure coin that "gave me pause". So, I figured I'd be giving up "crack" for a while...

As I started looking at more gold coins, I realized (quickly) that grading them and their wear characteristics are not like the silver I had grown accustomed to for many years. I bought my first piece of gold in a certified holder ($5 Liberty- PCGS58). It's a common date and I bought it before the run-up in gold... when it was ~$1250/oz. I purchased it certified since I was new to grading gold and I also liked some degree of assurance that it's authentic. Shortly after that, I took the plunge and bought a $2.5 Indian... raw. I know these are heavily counterfeited so I breathed a sigh of relief when it came back straight-graded (PCGS AU58, with a TV).

So, at this point, I'm starting to accumulate certified coins. I had an idea some time ago about a Box of 20 by Denomination... starting with Half Cents and going to a $20 Double Eagle. While I was looking at more and more gold, I came across the California Fractional currency. They have an interesting place in history and I was taken by their small size and design. That's when I decided to do "the Gold Page" just by denomination. I'm starting with 25 Cent fractional and going to a $20 Saint. My set will include only one Liberty Head ($5) and gives a decent smattering of gold... which is not my collecting priority.

Here's what I have so far: